Actor Charlie Sheen and director “aka Charlie Sheen” Andrew Renzi reflect on the actor’s life after the highly controversial Netflix documentary. In a new interview, Sheen explained that being sober allowed him to honestly participate in the project and address some difficult topics, such as his past drug use and public scandals. Sheen also praised Renzi’s approach, saying he felt the documentary focused on understanding him as a person rather than exploiting his past controversies.
Charlie Sheen discusses his Netflix documentary with director Andrew Renzi
“Two and a Half Men” star and “aka Charlie Sheen” director Andrew Renzi recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss some of the topics explored in the revealing documentary.
Renzi said part of his job was “figuring out what the realities of this fever dream of a lifetime really were” because some of the stories about Sheen might have been exaggerated over time.
To help get a clearer picture of the actor, he went back to archival footage, including films from Sheen’s childhood, featuring his brother Emilio Estevez and friends like actors Sean and Chris Penn.
Andrew Renzi jokes about Sheen’s ‘Virgo brain’
Renzi also praised Sheen’s incredible memory, joking that he had a “Virgo’s brain.”
“Charlie’s memory is like nothing I could have imagined,” Renzi said, while even Sheen added that his memories “shouldn’t be intact and available” after his past drug use.
“There’s another version of this movie that I think of frequently, where we spend an hour and a half in the ’70s and ’80s with the Super 8 films before [Sheen] even made a film. The one where Chris Penn becomes a main character. I fell in love with that stuff,” Renzi said. “The realities of where [Sheen’s] The story made it difficult to spend so much time on it. So we had to find that balance.
Charlie Sheen seemed reluctant to questions about his health
The THR reporter described Sheen as “a little annoyed” by the comments about his health, noting that “I think my presence answers those questions.” He also seemed equally dismissive of questions about his finances, responding: “Would you ask me that question at a dinner in front of my parents?”
Fortunately, Sheen’s first meeting with Renzi went much more smoothly. Sheen revealed that there was considerable interest in making a documentary about his life, but Renzi was the only one he granted an in-person meeting to pitch it.
“I was approached several times, but it never resulted in an in-person meeting,” Sheen recalled. “It was just a few phone calls, or I had read an explanation of how someone thought they should document my story, and none of that spoke to me at all.”
However, when it came to Renzi, Sheen said, “I saw a guy who wasn’t interested in a lot of things. [tabloid] shit,” adding, “I saw a guy who wasn’t there to exploit anything, who was there to celebrate the cool shit and to be sensitive — but honest and thorough — with the not-so-cool shit.”
Sheen insisted on having “a little space” between the documentary and his memoir
“aka Charlie Sheen” premiered on Netflix on September 10. The day before, his autobiography, “The Book of Sheen: A Memoir,” was published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Sheen admitted that he insisted on getting “a little space” between the release of his memoir and documentary, but was only given 24 hours.
“Netflix spent all this money to acquire this awesome project,” he said, emphasizing that it was a business decision. Although the book came first, there were concerns that the documentary would “hurt” book sales. However, the memoir still became a New York Times bestseller, and Sheen claims that the audiobook of the memoir, which he narrated himself, outsold the memoir 3 to 1.
Sheen’s brother and father refused to participate in the Netflix documentary
Although Renzi tried, Sheen’s brother, Emilio, and their father, Martin Sheen, refused to participate in the documentary. Renzi even showed them a rough cut of “Part One” to show them the quality of the Netflix special, but to no avail.
“Dad had a very specific reaction. He said, ‘You don’t need me,'” Charlie recalls. “‘You don’t need today’s me. You have the really interesting, beautiful me. That’s how I want to be in the doc.'”
That being said, Oscar-winning “One Battle After Another” Sean Penn appeared in the documentary. Renzi said Penn served as his “anchor” and also provided his favorite commentary on the entire documentary.
“Sean Penn texted me and said, ‘You pulled off something I’ve never seen before,’” Renzi recalled. “’He’s as unique and one-of-a-kind as Charlie Sheen.’”
